Tempo Run

intermediate · locomotion

Setup

Wear running shoes with cushioning left and pick a flat route with few traffic lights so you can hold a steady pace. Only add tempo work after at least 4-6 weeks of regular easy running.

Execution

Warm up with 5 minutes of brisk walking, then jog easily for 10 minutes until you are properly warm.
Lift to tempo effort: comfortably hard, where you can get a few words out but not a full sentence.
Hold that effort for 20-30 minutes, or break it into 8-10 minute blocks with 2 minutes of easy jogging between.
Keep the cadence around 170-180 steps a minute, run tall and keep the shoulders loose.
If the pace drifts in the second half you went out too fast, so hold whatever is left steady.
Cool down with 10 minutes of easy jogging and 5 minutes of walking, then stretch the legs and calves.
In hot, humid weather run early morning or late afternoon and back the pace off. Chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness means stopping and seeing a doctor.

Breathing

Breathe deeply and rhythmically with your steps, usually in for two and out for two. If the rhythm breaks into gasping you are above tempo effort, so slow down.

Quick cues

Comfortably hard, never all out.
A few words, not a sentence.
Hold a steady effort throughout.
Hold your hands like cupping an egg.
A faster second half is the win.

Common faults

Fault: Running tempo almost as hard as a race
Fix: Use the few-words test, and if you wear a watch, hold the heart rate around 80-88% of maximum.
Fault: Skipping the easy jogging warm-up to save time
Fix: Give it the full 10 minutes of easy jogging, because that is what lets the tempo hold together.
Fault: Going out too fast and fading in the second half
Fix: Run the first 5 minutes a few seconds a kilometer slower than target before settling in.
Fault: Putting two tempo sessions on back-to-back days
Fix: Leave at least one easy or rest day between hard sessions.

Equipment

bodyweight

Muscle groups

cardio, legs